Knockdown shipping container



W. L. DALTON KNOCKDOWN SHIPPING CONTAINER Dec. 16, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 22, 1955 IN V EN TOR. William l Dalia/z Dec. 16, 1958 w. L. DALTON KNOCKDOWN SHIPPING CONTAINER 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 22, 1955 INVEN TOR. William L Dalian Dec. 16, 1958 w. L. DALTON KNOCKDOWN SHIPPING CONTAINER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 22, 1955 INVENTOR. William I. Dalia/L BY KNOCKDQWN SHIPPING CONTAINER William L. Dalton, Chicago, Ill.

Application September 22, 1955, Serial No. 535,998 Claims. Cl. 217-12 This invention relates to shipping containers and is concerned more particularly with container construction including fibreboard or the like parts reinforced by wooden cleats and adapted to be fastened together into apackage.

It is an object of the invention to provide a shipping container of simplified construction including a three-way locking formation at each corner of the container.

Another object is to provide a tube whose mutually hinged walls are confined to substantially 90 relative movement between collapsed and set-up conditions.

A further object is to provide a shipping container having a minimum of parts and a three-way locking formation at each corner of the container.

Another object is to provide a collapsible shipping container tube consisting of fibreboard or the like and cleats and constructed and arranged so that the vertical margins of the fibreboard or the like are fixed to certain of the cleats.

It is further an object to provide a collapsible tube of the character referred to devoid of outwardly projecting fibreboard or the like vertical margins and adapted in conjunction with covers to afford a three-way locking formation at each corner of the tube.

A further object is to provide a shipping container of the character referred to employing two fibreboard panels affording four rigid walls of the container without external projections.

An additional object is to provide identical half-sections adapted to be assembled to provide a collapsible tube of the character referred to, devoid of outwardly projecting fibreboard or the like margins.

It is also an object to provide a shipping container of the character referred to, formed of a minimum of parts capable of being assembled and fastened together expeditiously and constructed to afford a three-way lock at each corner and to be devoid of outside fibreboard projections.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

The invention will be better understood upon reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is an isometric view of a tube in set-up condition, constructed in accordance with one form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an isometric view of one of the two sections of the tube of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of Fig. 3, but with the section almost fully collapsed.

Patent G M portions of the cleats 44 for reinforcement.

2,864,524 Patented Dec. 16, 1958 Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 99 in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is an isometric view of a modified cover.

Fig. 11 is an isometric view of a skid adapted for use as the bottom closure.

Fig. 12 shows a package including a modified tube com struction.

Fig. 13 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the: line 13 13 in Fig. 12. I

Fig. 14 is similar to the bottom of Fig. 13 but shows askid.

Fig. 15 shows a modified tube, and Fig. 16 shows the same with a cover fastened thereto. p

Referring now more particularly tothe drawings, disclosing illustrative embodiments of the invention, there is shown at 16 a collapsible tube formed of two identical sections 18. Each section 18 comprises a rectangular piece 20 of stiff, tough, light weight sheet material, such as fibreboard, whose longitudinal edges 22 and Marc for convenience referred to respectively as its top and bottom edges. Each piece 20 is scored or bent to provide vertical hinges 26 and 28, providing adjacent walls. 30 and 32 and a relatively narrow end tab or lap 34. Vertical cleats 36 and 38 are fastened to the right and left outside margins of the wall 38 and project as at 40 above and below said wall. A horizontal cleat 42 may be fastened to the wall 30 between and in end abutment with intermediate portions of the cleats 36 and 38 for reinforcement. Horizontal cleats 44 are fastened to the .top and bottom outside margins of the wall 32 and flush with the top and bottom edges 22 and 24, respectively, and terminate at the hinge 28 and project as at 46.beyond the hinge 26 a distance substantially equal to the cleat thickness. A vertical cleat 48 may be fastened to the wall 32 between and in end abutment with intermediate The tube 16 is formed by fastening the lap 34 of each section 18 to the cleat 38 of the other section, with the top edges 22 of the pieces 20 coplanar, and the bottom edges 24 coplanar. The tube 16 accordingly maybe fully collapsed to a rather flat parallelogram-like form. as shown in Fig. 5, to occupy minimum space for shipment or storage, or it may be expanded to any intermediate extent; an example of which is shown in Fig. 6, and in the latter form it is capable of standing erect and stable.

The limit to which the angle between the walls 30 and 32 of each section 18 of the tube 16 may be increased from 0 (Fig. 5) is (Fig. 2) since at'90", which is the set-up condition of the tube, the face 52 of each projection 46 abuts the longitudinal edge 54 of the adjacent cleat 36, and the longitudinal edge 56 of each cleat 38 and the adjacent end edge 58 of each piece 20 abut the inner face 60 of the associated wall 32, affording a self-squaring tube 16 whose interior is smooth and rec'- tangular in cross-section.

One form of cover, adapted for the bottom as Well as the top of the tube, is shown at 70 and comprises a square or other rectangular piece 72 of fibreboard or the like whose width is equal to the distance between 'the planes of the outer. faces of the cleats 44 of the set-up tube 16, and whose length is equal to the distance between the planes of the inner faces of the cleats 36 and 38 of the setup tube. Parallel end and intermediate cleats 74 are fastened to the outer face of the piece 72 and coextensive with the width of said piece, the end cleats being flush with the end and side edges 76 and 78 of said piece and the intermediate cleat being flush with said side edges.

When a stove, washing machine, or other device is to be shipped, a cover such as the cover 70 is detachably fastened to the bottom of the device with the cleats 74 lowermost, and the device and cover as a unit placed on a support. A workman then takes a collapsed tube 16,

the inner cleats expands it to set-up condition, and lowers it about the device until the tube rests on and is in interfitted relation to the bottom cover 70, with the end edges of the piece 72 substantially flush with the outer faces of the walls 30,

the side edges of said piece substantially flush with the 44 and into the respective tube cleats 36 and 38. The

workman then places a top cover 70 on the upper end of the tube and fastens them together in the manner just described, and also drives fasteners 84 through the end portions of the top cover cleats 74 and into the upper cleats 44. Then he tilts the assembly first one way and then the other to in each case raise a part of the bottom cover and drives fasteners 84 through the raised end portions of the bottom cover cleats 74 and into the lower cleats 44. It will be noted that all of the fasteners are across the grain of the several cleats, providing at each corner of the package a three-way lock of maximum strength.

To avoid possible splitting of cleats and to facilitate and expedite the fastening operation, the cleats may be formed with pre-bored holes at the places of entry of the fasteners.

A modified cover is shown at 86 and comprises the construction of the cover 70 and two additional cleats 88 parallel to the side edges of the fibreboard 72 and fastened thereto at the inner face of the fibreboard. The cleats 88 are so arranged that when each cover 86 is applied to the tube 62 in the manner noted above as to the covers 70, said cleats fit preferably snugly adjacent the inner faces of the end and side walls 30 and 32 of the tube, and thus afford a stronger package.

All of the various cleats above and hereinafter referred to which are fastened to fibreboard are preferably glued thereto, although stapling or other suitable fastening means may be employed, and, in the case of the covers 86, additional fastening is preferably employed, such as nails 90 passing through the fibreboard and imbedded in the outer and inner cleats.

Instead of using a cover for the bottom of the package, a closure such as the skid 94 (Fig. 11) may be employed. The skid 94 may be formed like the cover 86 but without the fibreboard, taking a skeleton form with the outer cleats 96 nailed as at 98 or otherwise suitably fastened to 100. The projections 40 may project a distance equal to the cleat thickness so that the bottom of the skid, when fastened in place, will be substantially coplanar with the bottoms of such projections. The skid cleats may correspond in size and shape with those of the cover 86, but are generally thicker and stronger.

A modified tube is shown at 104 and differs from the tube above described only in that the intermediate cleats 42 and 48 are replaced by vertical cleats 106 and 108, respectively. With this construction, each cleat 106 is preferably identical with the cleats 36 and 38, with upper and lower projecting ends 110 adapted to be fastened as at 112 to the adjacent end cleats of the covers, or cover and skid, as the case may be, and each cleat 108 is preferably identical with the cleats 44, so that the ends of each cleat 108 may be fastened, as at 114, to the respective vertical cleats 36 and 38.

The pieces 20 and 72 are preferably formed of fibreboard such as that comprising corrugated sheeting faced on both sides with smooth sheeting, such as is common in shipping container construction, but other suitable material may be employed if desired.

The further modified tube shown at 120 may be like either of those above referred to, except that the opposite end walls 122 project as at 123 substantially above the plane of the tops of the side walls 32, so as to be fastened as at 124 to the end cleats 74 of the top cover 126, said fasteners and the fasteners passing through the respective end walls. This construction not only affords increased strength and rigidity but renders the package substantially dustproof. As most of the dust likely to enter a package enters at the top rather than at the bottom, it will generally be unnecessary, where a cover of the type indicated at 70 and 86 isused at the bottom of the tube, to extend the walls 122 downward as well as upward. However, this may be done if desired.

Various changes may be made and modifications resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. Hence I do not wish to be restricted to the forms of the invention illustrated and described or the uses mentioned except to the extent indicated in the appended claims, which are to be interpreted as broadly as the state of the art will permit.

I claim:

1. A collapsible shipping container comprising a tubular structure forming four container side walls, one pair of opposed side walls of said tubular member having cleats extending parallel to the free edges of such walls, each of such edges having a cleat thereat, the other pair of opposed walls each having cleats extending parallel to the axis of the tubular structure at each correspondingly extending edge of such wall and extending outwardly beyond a plane containing the side edges of the first-mentioned opposed walls and adjacent faces of the cleats thereat, the side walls of said structure being formed from a pair of like sheet members, each of which forms one of said first-mentioned walls and one of said second-men tioned walls integrally connected along their adjacent edges and a flap integrally connected to said first-mentioned wall along the opposite edge of the latter, the cleats on such first-mentioned wall terminating at the juncture of such wall and said flap, and extending outwardly beyond the juncture of such wall with the associated second-mentioned wall, each flap being secured to the adjacent cleat of the other second-mentioned wall at the outer face of such cleat in parallel relation with respect to the plane of the latter wall, operative to form a symmetrical tubular structure in which the ends of the cleats of the first-mentioned walls overlap the adjacent edge cleats of the second-mentioned walls, and a pair of individual wall members, one for each remaining side of the container at the open ends of the tubular structure, said individual wall members having parallel cleats along a pair of oppositely disposed edges of a length to overlie the edge cleats of said first-mentioned walls and positioned at the outwardly extending portions of the cleats of the second-mentioned walls to form a three-way interlock at each corner between the cleats of the respective walls forming such corner, said tubular structure being capable of folding at the junctures of integrally connected walls and the junctures of the flaps with their associated walls, into a compact structure with the internal faces of integrally connected walls being folded into substantially parallel relation whereby the cleats of the second-mentioned walls lie substantially in a common plane positioned intermediate and parallel to parallel planes in which are positioned the respective cleats of the first-mentioned walls.

2. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein one of said individual wall members is in the form of a skid having an intermediate cleat disposed intermediate said edge cleats, and a pair of substantially parallel connecting members operatively connecting the cleats adjacent opposite free ends thereon to form a rigid structure, said connecting members being positioned within the tubular structure adjacent and parallel to the edge cleats at the adjacent edges of said first-mentioned walls.

3. A container as defined in claim 1, wherein the parallel cleats on the respective walls are located at the respective edges thereof, each pair of cleats being connected intermediate its ends by a reinforcing cleat extending substantially at right angles thereto.

4. A container as defined in claim 1, wherein each well of the tubular member is provided with an intermediate cleat extending substantially parallel to the adjacent cleats on such wall.

5. A container as defined in claim 1, wherein said second-mentioned walls extend substantially coextensive with the cleats thereon whereby such walls may overlie the adjacent faces of cleats on the individual walls and length of the cleats on the latter are of substantially the same length as the corresponding dimension of such individual wall to form a substantially dust-tight container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,976,693 Watkins Oct. 9, 1934 2,177,933 Boeye Oct. 31, 1939 2,249,269 Boeye July 15, 1941 2,276,495 Kenfield Mar. 17, 1942 2,442,651 Johnson June 1, 1948 2,520,303 Bauer Aug. 29, 1950 

